ABSTRACT
Fibre composite structures are generally formed by a process involving elevated temperatures and pressures. The resulting finished part can be expected to be in a (self-equilibrated) state of residual stress and strain. At the lamina or ply level, ply level residual stresses are expected, due to various ply orientations and the anisotropy of effective lamina properties. At the laminate level, residual forces and moments are expected, due to the constraints imposed by the tooling and the inherent resistance of a shell structure to changes in curvature. The paper discusses the issues regarding the calculation of the stresses induced by the manufacturing process, and their impact on the subsequent material behaviour.
